Management Book of the Year: Winners revealed

The winners of the 2016 Management Book of the Year were announced last night, with how to do more with less and managerial neuroscience among the winning themes

Matt Scott

The best management books of the last year were on show at the British Library last night as the winners of the 2016 CMI Management Book of the Year were revealed.

Frugal Innovation, by Navi Radjou and Jaideep Prabhu and published by Profile (Economist Books), was awarded the £5,000 top prize by CMI in a hotly contested competition in a year that saw a record 170 entries.

In Frugal Innovation, Prabhu, Professor of Business and Enterprise at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, and Radjou, Fellow at Judge Business School, give an overview of the principles, perspectives and techniques managers can use to consistently perform at the top of their game, with limited resources.

It offers a blueprint for leaders and managers in companies of all sizes and across all sectors on how to do more (and better) with less.

Unilever CEO Paul Polman, who provided the foreword to Frugal Innovation, said: “Radjou and Prabhu have set out an essential roadmap for those wishing to navigate a volatile business environment and richly deserve this accolade from CMI.

“The concept of frugal innovation is a business priority, and should inform the professional development of every manager and leader.”

Six steps to a better (frugal) future

The winning book identifies six principles that large firms can adopt to innovate faster, better and cheaper. These include:

Flexing assets to make big companies more agile

Developing sustainable solutions to reduce environmental footprints

Shaping customer behaviour through apps and big data

Co-creating value with prosumers

Partnering with other innovative companies

A panel of leading business and management figures judges the award, which is run in association with The British Library and sponsored by Henley Business School. The winning book was selected by Patrick Dunne (Chairman of D3O), Andy Rubin, (Chairman of Pentland Brands plc), Professor Rebecca Taylor (Dean and Director of Studies at the Open University Business School), Valerie Dias (Chief Risk and Compliance Officer of Visa Europe) and Diane Lees (Director General of the Imperial War Museums).

Patrick Dunne, Chair of the Final Panel of Judges, explained why the book impressed the group.

“Chairing the judging panel is an absolute joy given the diversity of the topics and the judges’ perspectives,” he said. “What made Frugal Innovation stand out this year was its absolute relevance to managers across all sectors and levels and the growing urgency with which we need to use less of the world’s resources.”

CMI CEO Ann Francke said: “Frugal Innovation sets out for organisations big and small the blueprint for being more agile to deal with the demands of the digital age. Doing more with less is a mantra that applies equally to how companies must innovate and to redefining values for sustainable business.

“This major shift in thinking delivers essential lessons for 21st Century managers and leaders.”

The Management Book of the Year category winners are:

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Frugal Innovation: how to do more with less by Navi Radjou and Jaideep Prabhu

Published by Profile (Economist Books)

Management Futures

Big data: using SMART big data, analytics and metrics to make better decisions and improve performance by Bernard Marr

Practical Manager

The Commuter’s Read

When digital becomes human: the transformation of customer relationships by Steven Van Belleghem

Published by Kogan Page

Management and Leadership Textbook

iLEAD: tools and techniques for aspiring leaders by Stuart Duff

Published by Pearn Kandola Publishing

Management Book of the Year Awards 2017 opens for entries on 1 April 2016. Follow the hashtag #managementgold on Twitter for further updates and to get tips, advice and information on the books in this year’s competition.

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